Blogs from Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, Asia - page 25

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Asia » Malaysia » Sarawak » Kuching April 1st 2006

me and 3 girl friends when to Malaysia for a week we had the best time... read more
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Asia » Malaysia » Sarawak » Kuching April 1st 2006

Hello everyone!! This will be the last lot of anecdotes from Borneo as, after much agonising, we have decided that a week is not long enough to do justice to Sabah. We have moved our flight to Australia forward a few days. We're now flying back to Singapore tomorrow and head to Darwin on Wednesday. We know absolutely nothing about Australia, so any tips on what not to miss between Darwin and Sydney would be much appreciated. Since my last post, we seem to have spent most of our time wading through the jungle. The day after our return from the longhouse, we dragged ourselves out of bed with limited enthusiasm in search of the elusive world's largest flower, the Rafflesia. These big, red, slightly plastic-looking flowers are real symbols of Borneo. They take 9 months ... read more
Bloomin' Rafflesia
Melon man, Kuching
Bako

Asia » Malaysia » Sarawak » Kuching March 27th 2006

Since the last blog we have moved from Singapore to the considerably less air-conditioned steam bath that is Borneo. We flew into Kuching, Sarawak around a week ago and have really enjoyed wandering round the city exploring and deciding on our next move. A few days ago we headed to the Semangoggh (errr...or something like that - never got that one in spelling tests at school ....) Orang-utan Rehabilitation Centre around 30km south of Kuching. We first saw some mothers and babies feeding - a wonderful sight and truly fascinating to see their very human mannerisms. It was entertaining to watch as they worked out how to crack open a coconut, bashing it against a tree until they could get the flesh out. Next, we were taken to the feeding area in the jungle itself. This ... read more
Iban Dancing
Lalang Longhouse
Longhouse life

Asia » Malaysia » Sarawak » Kuching March 27th 2006

Hello all! We have been having a very exciting time here in Borneo! We arrived in Kuching on Tuesday after getting a bus from Singapore to Johor Baru and then flying from there (much cheaper although we did have to go through immigration a silly number of times!). We are staying in a hostel called the B and B Inn which they are in the middle of painting, which would be fine if they put up wet paint signs all the time, but they only use them in places, so just when you think it's safe to sit, or touch - you get green fingers and a blue bum! Kuching is a really lovely city, clean and relaxed with lovely handicraft shops and waterside cafes. We spent the first couple of days visiting the museums and ... read more
mother and baby
It's Richie!
In the jungle!

Asia » Malaysia » Sarawak » Kuching March 19th 2006

It was a cold night with the air-con in the room, slept late and missed the free breakfast we hadn't been told about! Arranged a trip to a longhouse in the jungle where the local tribes-people called the Iban still live, no doubt with satellite tv and mobile phones playing the crazy frog ringtone. The whole 2 day/1 night trip cost us MR270 with a guide. Took a river taxi across to Malaysian village to have a look at the houses, many built on wooden stilts over the swampy ground. Ate ice cream and waved at just about everyone who saw us. Had a look around the Fort Margerita, built to protect Kuching from pirates. Back to town, ate a peanut butter pancake, mmm, 100% cholesterol :-) Went on a sunset cruise up and down the ... read more
House on stilts in Malaysian village
View from fort
Inside fort grounds

Asia » Malaysia » Sarawak » Kuching March 18th 2006

Our replacement alarm clock woke us up at 3am! I blame Sleepy Sam's! On our way out of the Gateway Hotel we accidently got out at the 1st floor where we found ourselves in a dimly lit secret all-night bar with some dubious characters telling us we were on the wrong floor. After a swift taxi ride to the airport we borded the Air Asia flight to Kuching. Air Asia is Malaysia's budget airline, a bit like Easyjet but better. Took a taxi to our hostel, the Singgahsana lodge, one of the nicest places we have stayed in, very clean, friendly staff and comfy beds. Went to explore the local area and ate delicious egg & onion pancakes. Checked out the main shopping bazaar to look at some nice art sculptures and antiques, mixed in with ... read more
Inside Chinese temple
River taxi
Diner at a hawker stall

Asia » Malaysia » Sarawak » Kuching February 12th 2006

(Swena) Hey again. this blog finds me in much better spirits. a week has helped me to forget about seattle's loss. since our last blog we have left the mainland and are now on the island of borneo. borneo is devided into two parts. the southern part belongs to indonsia while the the northern part belongs to maylaysia along with a small section that makes up the sovereign kingdom of Brunei. we are only planning on visiting the northern part of the island since the southern part is unstable. on of the things that a lot of people at home (myself being one of them) take for granted is our money system. we've so far only visited three countries (singapore, maylaysia, and thailand) but we've crossed back and forth and it's hard to keep the currencies ... read more
Kev's ready for National Geographic
Mosque Sunset
Kuching Scenery

Asia » Malaysia » Sarawak » Kuching December 25th 2005

I have always dreamt of traveling to distant lands. Part of this dream was realized in 2005 when Dr. Linda Burton, the senior Anthropologist at the Department invited us to travel with her to Sarawak. I thought then that Sarawak was a part of Indonesia. When people inquired about my trip, I always tell them I am going to Indonesia. The Travel Begins December 25, 2005 8:00 A.M. 25 December 2005 -I reported early to work notwithstanding that it is Christmas. The previous night I went home late so I will be able to generate more data for my Boss to work on during my absence. 10:00 A.M.-still having a date with my computer.... 11:00 A.M.-went home to pack my clothes (bad idea to start packing on the same day of travel) 12:00 NN-still packing. Wanted ... read more
Arrival in Sandakan
Filling-up arrival cards
Pathetic

Asia » Malaysia » Sarawak » Kuching November 14th 2005

September 3, 2005, if i were to choose where my birthplace would be, defenitely Sarawak! It was my first time to go and i did not expect it would be as beautiful as i have imagined. I went there for a research trip, independent research on Ethnomusicology and i had my series of palpitations as i view and imbibe what has been revealed in the so called " hidden rainforest of Borneo" Day 1: sunday afternoon after work, i went straight from Singapore to Johor Bahru, Malaysia and spent the night in a backpacker's inn called Footloose. Hakimi the owner, the only one attending the place is a very cool guy from Sabbah, so cool that he even tried fetching me in the town proper of JB when i lost track. Footloose is like a Yoga ... read more
the BBQ session
Orang ulu longhouse
the living artifact

Asia » Malaysia » Sarawak » Kuching October 19th 2005

Today we visited a Longhouse. About 2 hours out of Kkuching and in the Jungle. The guide that we had was not real good with English but it turns out his family comes from the tribe that owns the longhouse. It was a very interesting tour as we got to see some traditional Malay culture. The guide told us about the conflicts that his tribe had with other tribes (years ago) and how they used to keep the skulls of their enemies for trophies. We witnessed the making of some traditional musical instruments and sat down with a family to have lunch. On the way home the guide invited us into his modern home - his grandchildren were very interested to see white people in their house. ... read more
Our Guide
Instrument Maker
Toni Playing Instrument




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